If a game is lucky enough to get a sequel that’s great. Sometimes bad games or average ones need a sequel in order to work out the kinks. For example, Assassin’s Creed was a unique idea that was met with a lot of mixed praise that thought there was potential. With Assassin’s Creed II, this potential was met thus blossoming a seemingly never-ending franchise.
Some video games have not been fortunate enough to make a bigger splash than just one or two games. Some in fact leave a lot of questions on the table left unanswered. There are a lot of games that are missing their complete trilogies from systems like the NES, DS, Wii, PS1, PS2, and PSP.
10 Metal Gear Acid
Metal Gear Acid received two games on the PSP. Both games took place in an alternate universe of missions that still starred Solid Snake. There were still stealth elements as well but the overall gameplay was a mix between a card collecting RPG and a strategy RPG.
The mix of genres sounds weird but it worked surprisingly well. Unfortunately, the PSP just did not sell well in the West to justify many sequels on the system.
9 The Conduit
The Conduit was a series of two first-person shooters on the Wii exclusively. Both games are honestly average at best based on reviews at the time and probably don’t hold up that well today.
There is one reason why fans want to see a third game and that’s because the second’s cliffhanger had a legendary great idea. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came out in power armor, ready to kick alien butt. Does that not sound rad?
8 Okami
Okami was at first a PS2 exclusive that eventually went on to be ported to too many consoles to count. Its sequel, Okami-den, has only been made available on the DS.
That game is not as classic but is still pretty good. With all the ports of the original one would think the DS game would get some love as well or even better, generate excitement for a third game. It would just be great to see more games like this tackle The Legend of Zelda series in new ways.
7 Bushido Blade
Bushido Blade was a series of samurai and ninja fighting games on the PS1. What made them so unique was the fact that the game featured one-hit kills. This made matches more intense. It was a concept way ahead of its time that has been toyed around with from indie developers perhaps in a way to pay homage to this forgotten series like Nidhogg.
6 Destiny Of An Emperor
Destiny of an Emperor is a long-forgotten RPG series from the NES. The original was localized but the sequel was not. Thankfully fans can still enjoy it via fan patches. Think of them like Dynasty Warriors but as turn-based RPGs. It is one of very few RPG series that Capcom ever attempted. Even though they were on as ancient of a console as the NES, they are both worth a look.
5 Resident Evil Outbreak
Resident Evil Outbreak was another game that was ahead of its time. Both games were released as PS2 exclusives and used the network adapter to connect online to other gamers.
Players assumed the roles of ordinary citizens in Raccoon City and had to try and escape the zombie outbreak together. It could be played solo but it was incredibly hard to do so. There actually was a confirmed third game planned, but it never came to be.
4 Red Steel
Red Steel was a launch game for the Wii which was not one of its best-reviewed. The sequel tried to go in a different direction with cel-shaded visuals and having it become a samurai western. The gameplay and visuals were improved on top of the motion controls being more accurate. Despite the sequel being better, there was never a third game to capitalize on this newfound magic.
3 StarTropics
StarTropics was an internal Nintendo project for the NES but only for the Western market for a majority of this series’ lifespan. It was an action-adventure game like The Legend of Zelda as if it were set on an island.
This weird offshoot from Nintendo did get two games but nothing after save for being mentioned as Easter Eggs in other games. There are diehard fans just itching to see it return though.
2 Dark Cloud
Level-5 made two PS2 dungeon-crawling sim RPGs in this series. Dark Cloud got spiritual sequels after the second game but nothing was ever official. Plans seemed to be in place for a third game too but nothing came of it although Rogue Galaxy could have been made from the remnants of Dark Cloud 3. It plays very closely to these games as a roguelike action RPG.
1 Manhunt
Manhunt is still probably Rockstar’s most infamous game when it hit the PS2. It was essentially a snuff film that players had to kill their way through. It doesn’t look that graphic now but it pushed boundaries back in the day.
The sequel didn’t get as much controversy and wasn’t as well received. That might be why there was never a third game but it really is a miracle this gruesome stealth game got even one sequel.